I finally went to the dentist today. I had been putting it off for a long time. Most of us are like that. When we know that something is going to be painful, we refuse to act until a stronger pain forces us to act. Unfortunately, that is the case with spiritual things as well. Much that God asks us to do goes against all of our natural instincts, and so we put off doing them.
When it comes to human relationships, we all have illusions about an idyllic relationship where everything is soft and warm and cuddly. We remember some soft warm cuddlies from our infancy, and we keep trying to get back to them, whether it is with our parents, our spouses, our lovers, or our dearest friends. And certainly there are some good times in all of these relationships. But it seems like God has something against them, because at the same time that he asks us to love our enemies, he calls on us to "hate" those who are closest to us... to forego the cuddlies that those relationships represent. Why is that?
The story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son - the son whom God himself had promised to Abraham - is so shocking that most Christians would rather not even think about it. God had condemned pagan religions for teaching people to literally sacrifice their children to false gods, and yet he himself was asking Abraham to do much the same thing. I believe that what God was really aiming at was not the destruction of Isaac, but rather a severing of the false illusions that Abraham must have had about Isaac.
Sometimes we must be cruel to be kind (to ourselves as well as to others), and while there is an emotional dependency on anyone, you cannot really love that person. Instead, you will smother the person, in an effort to satisfy your own need for soft warm cuddlies in return.
What most people mistake for love is just a selfish need to be loved. When they cease to get what they want out of such a relationship, they often dump the other person or turn on them in anger. But mature love doesn't work like that. Mature love gives without demanding cuddlies in return.
It is difficult to consciously choose to forego the cuddlies. But God often engineers things so that sooner or later the cuddlies will disappear of their own accord. At one time or another, our loved ones will disappoint us and hurt us. And when that happens is when we find out what our so-called love is made of. Do we remain faithful, or do we leave?
Those whom we love most we also have the most power to hurt. And they have the same power to hurt us. When some have been hurt, they have fallen away, whether it be from a marriage, or from some other lesser fellowship, suggesting that they may have been in the relationship more for the cuddlies... for what they could get out of it. Others have stayed faithful, and because of it, they have grown into a deeper relationship with those whom they loved.
As a leader, I would love to be popular, to be a "nice guy". But I rarely have the opportunity to do that. Some of my gruffness is a result of impatience and ignorance, I know. I am sorry about that. But at least a bit of my gruffness (and the gruffness of almost any human leader) may come as the result of attempts to be good leaders, accountable to a higher Authority that you. As a Christian leader, I believe that I have a responsibility to wield the sword of truth with unflinching accuracy, often letting the chips fall where they lie. In order to speak the truth, I am forced to leave most of the cuddlies for someone else to enjoy. Most of my cuddlies, and the cuddlies of those who follow me, must come from Jesus himself. Surely this is true of other leaders as well.
I could well imagine that some of the strongest individuals in the fellowship that I lead are people who don't particularly like me. They just "endure" me because they have a higher reason for being here.
Look at Jesus himself, the perfect leader. His closest followers were asked if they would leave him when so many others were turning away, and the best that Peter could say was, "To whom would we go? You alone have the words of eternal life." In other words, if Peter had been given another option, he probably would have taken it.
Peter wasn't saying, "Oh, we definitely agree with what you have just said, and we're behind you all the way. See, Jesus had just said some things that seemed totally off the wall (i.e. about eating his flesh and drinking his blood). But he had said so many other things that made perfect sense, that Peter just had to take the bad (or that which appeared to be bad at the time) along with the good, or else choose to fall away from God altogether by leaving Jesus.
With any human leader, you get even more bad with the good! However, if every one of our personal relationships broke down and not a one of us could stop from being repulsed by all the others in our community, the truth would still be the truth, and we would still need to stay together because of our love for the truth, if for no other reason. And if God could build an army of people with such pure motives, don't you think he would actually choose to destroy our interpersonal relationships in order to do it?
So let us each learn to hold lightly to the cuddlies and grasp strongly for the truth. In doing that we may find the eternal cuddly from the One who alone can satisfy for eternity.
Dave McKay, and his wife Cherry, are co-founders of a string of Christian communities. You can read more of his articles on the community's website: http://www.jesuschristians.com
Do you want victory in your life? Do you have... Read More
You decide! We are often asked to make decisions. Decision... Read More
In a recent article entitled "Some Evidence of How We... Read More
My wife, our friend and I went to listen to... Read More
The Mind in an Advanced Thought System:The center of our... Read More
We shamans are a strange breed.....often we tend to isolate... Read More
Life is growth. For many people life is like a... Read More
To find out how psychic you are, try answering the... Read More
Billy Graham once said, "Being a Christian is more than... Read More
Matthew 1:1-17The Genealogy of Jesus Christ1 The book of the... Read More
One of the first issues people on the spiritual path... Read More
Before the movie "Finding Nemo", came out Steve Jobs the... Read More
What does it take to live life holistically?It definitely does... Read More
We all need space, we all need time to ourselves.In... Read More
What's a cosmic 2 x 4 you ask? It's actually... Read More
Worldwide extensive research is being published related to the mind-body... Read More
I am a big believer in the strength of a... Read More
Do you go to God seeking His will for your... Read More
How many Christian people do you know who are bearing... Read More
One of the biggest myths to evolve in the growing... Read More
The term spirituality is a confusing term. Usually, when one... Read More
Today we do not experience great manifestations of God as... Read More
Five verses specify that we are to live by faith.... Read More
A subject of debate for thousands of years, spirituality will... Read More
Whadda ya know?Seriously. With absolute certainty, what do you know?... Read More
Good morning Roy, good morning Joseth. (Channelled)From time to time... Read More
Even Pandora and her box come in two versions. In... Read More
Welcome to the GOD 1.0 Tech Support Page. GOD 1.0... Read More
An act of selflessness is the highest expression of selfishness... Read More
God, what a wonderful spirit. He, is our ever present... Read More
In looking back at my process over the years I... Read More
The Many Waters explores the universe and sifts through the... Read More
When the storms in your life are raging, just believe,... Read More
You are a dual being. Part eternal spirit and part... Read More
"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being,... Read More
When my dad was nearing the end of his life... Read More
What better example than Jesus' life to explain about having... Read More
Whadda ya know?Seriously. With absolute certainty, what do you know?... Read More
Yesterday, a marketing guru asked me a question that left... Read More
I honestly am not sure why this hit me so... Read More
Do you go to God seeking His will for your... Read More
Walls as a blockade seem to be an integral part... Read More
An angel can be your best friend. Angels have been... Read More
Attract and hold your family at home with some unique... Read More
Enlightenment, which is as varied as each individual's fingerprint, is... Read More
Burn out, it can happen to anyone. Some of the... Read More
Talked to an interesting person today at a coffee shop,... Read More
Have you heard the saying that; You have a friend... Read More
The Tarot is not just a divinatory tool, but it... Read More
Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:11 (NIV) We... Read More
There is a natural tendency to asociate spirituality with religion,... Read More
We as human beings travelled in small bands for hundreds... Read More
You know that the Bible tells us a lot about... Read More
"Self-Actualization" is the process of making our self "actual." Our... Read More
Qohelet had grown old with time when he delivered his... Read More
Are you facing some challenges in your life right now?... Read More
I want to share with you something that happened to... Read More
Excerpt From The Relationship Handbook: How to Understand and Improve... Read More
Before we tread into the domain of Past Life... we... Read More
You can think of your Animal Totems as imaginary guides... Read More
I had the intention of writing about Soul Mates but... Read More
The more we worry about money, and who's asking for... Read More
Tea-totalling Texans? Them's fightin' words!I live in a small Texas... Read More
No, I have never seen a fairy, an angel, nor... Read More
forgiveness stories quotes definition and loveForgiveness is that quality in... Read More
Today is the day that I'm getting back into exercise.... Read More
Spirituality |